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U Ottawa hockey team suspended for entire season

By Josh Beneteau

UPDATE – August 22, 2014: Thunder Bay police have charged two University of Ottawa hockey players with sexual assault, the Ottawa Citizen reports. Guillaume Donovan, 24, and 25-year-old David Foucher, a recent graduate who was captain of the team last season, were charged Friday. The team’s year long suspension remains in effect.

The University of Ottawa announced Wednesday that the current suspension of the GeeGees’s men’s hockey team is being extended for the entire 2014-15 season.

The team was initially suspended in March after allegations came out that members of the team were involved in an incident the weekend of Feb. 1 while on a road trip to Thunder Bay to play the Lakehead Thunderwolves.

The allegations include excessive drinking and sexual misconduct. A separate police investigation is ongoing.

Head Coach Réal Paiement was “relieved of his duties” Wednesday as well. In a press release, the school said Paiement “was not involved in the alleged incidents, but his reaction to them did not meet University expectations.”

“We have taken this matter very seriously,” said University of Ottawa President Allan Rock in the release. “We have dealt with these troubling incidents and we have learned from them.”

Stephanie White, associate director of athletics for Ryerson, said that the school would not comment on the incident.

“This is an internal University of Ottawa issue,” White said. “We support them in making whatever decisions they need to make for their program.”

White said if a similar situation were to occur at Ryerson, the athletic director, Ivan Joseph, would review the information and use all resources required to arrive at a decision.

White also said that Ontario University Athletics only reviews cases within a competition. External situations are left up to the school involved.

Last year, Ryerson’s men’s hockey team was suspended two games for drinking on a road trip.

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